Behold - The Coming of the Vampire Empire! (Cue scary music)

The vampires are coming. Oh, they've been here already, in the comedic fantasy of Mike Resnick, and things suspiciously like vampires (but also unlike them) have popped up in the works of Tom Lloyd and Joe Abercrombie. There are definitely vampire-esque entities in James Barclay and James Enge's work. But we haven't done an out and out, unabashedly vampire book yet at Pyr. This is nothing against bloodsuckers, honest, but I've been looking for the right vampire book, the kind of vampire book that says "this is how Pyr does vampires."

And I've finally found it.

Enter Clay and Susan Griffith, and their Vampire Empire. The first book in a projected series ("Vampire Empire" is the series title, book one is most likely going to be titled "The Greyfriar"), this is alt. history steampunk vampire. Let's say that again. "Alt. history steampunk vampire." We've just signed it up--most likely for a late fall 2010/early spring 2011 publication--and boy does it push all the right buttons!

"We are thrilled to be working with Pyr books on Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar," they say. "Pyr has always published the sort of rich fantasy we enjoy reading, so it’s a great treat to write for them too. Vampire Empire is the culmination of our love of fantasy, history, and rousing pulp adventure. The world of the novel consists of familiar Victorian history blended with strange twists to create a vast tapestry of politics and war fueled by odd steampunk technology. We think our take on vampires will excite you. But mostly, we promise that we know, as any reader does, characters count more than anything else."

So who are these folks?

Clay and Susan Griffith are a husband and wife writing team who specialize in blending fantasy and historical adventure in prose and graphic novels. They have published works ranging from the dark fantasy novel Banshee Screams (Pinnacle Entertainment 2002) to many issues of the satirical comic book The Tick (NEC Press). Clay and Susan met, probably not surprisingly, in a bookstore. Clay is a professor of history and Susan has a background in journalism, technical writing, and graphic design. They were married in Scotland, the country that provides much of the setting of Vampire Empire. Clay and Susan live with a cat in North Carolina. They have been writing together over 20 years, and are still married!

I'm very pleased to welcome them into the Pyr fold and looking forward to springing their genius on you in due course.